Panchen Lama – China Digital Times (CDT)http://chinadigitaltimes.net
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Beijing Positions Preferred Successor to Dalai Lamahttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/09/beijing-positions-preferred-successor-dalai-lama/
Tue, 27 Sep 2016 22:33:18 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=197008As political appointments set the stage for one leadership transition in China, authorities are maneuvering for another, positioning their chosen Panchen Lama to assume a more prominent role after the death of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. In 1995, Beijing installed Gyalsten Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama—the second highest ranking cleric in the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama—after rejecting the incarnation the exiled Dalai Lama had helped recognize from exile. Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the Dalai Lama-sanctioned choice, subsequently disappeared, and has yet to be seen publicly—much to the concern of many Tibetans and human rights advocates. Chinese officials have attempted in recent years to assure the world that the long unseen Panchen Lama, now 27, is “living a normal life and does not wish to be disturbed,” but concerns linger.

Gyaltsen Norbu was born in Tibet in 1990 to parents who were Communist Party members. He has lived in Beijing, reportedly under “protective” guard, since being enthroned in 1995 as the Panchen Lama.

He has always stressed his loyalty to the Chinese state, declaring last year that “the lives of the masses are moving toward wealth and civilization” and that “the Tibetan future is bright like the endless light of the golden sun.”

[…] The International Campaign for Tibet, a Washington-based advocacy group for Tibetan democracy and human rights, said those comments may have reflected concerns relayed to him by senior lamas during his visits to monasteries in Tibet.

Tsering Shakya, a Tibetan historian and scholar at the University of British Columbia, said the fact that the Panchen Lama does not live in his traditional seat in Tibet’s Tashi Lhunpo Monastery shows that monks there still do not accept him. [Source]

]]>197008Beijing-backed Panchen Lama Performs Ritual in Tibethttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/07/panchan-lama-performs-ritual-amid-buddhist-academy-demolition/
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 01:42:01 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=195435According to Xinhua, Chinese government-backed Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu began a four-day Kalachakra initiation on Thursday, marking the first time this important Buddhist ritual has been carried out in Tibet in 50 years.

The monks, from Labrang Lamasery in northwest China’s Gansu Province and Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery in Xigaze, Tibet Autonomous Region, will perform this ritual every morning during the four-day event.

[…] Public instruction and initiations have been scheduled for every afternoon. On Thursday, monks, nuns, gurus and devotees will arrive at the New Palace of the Panchen Lama, near the Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery, at noon.

It is estimated that some 50,000 Buddhists will attend the auspicious the event. [Source]

Beijing handpicked Gyaltsen Norbu for his current position in 1995 after rejecting Gendun Choekyi Nyima, a then six-year-old boy named by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama—the second-highest ranking lama in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. Gendun Choekyi Nyima subsequently disappeared, and his whereabouts are still unknown, prompting repeated calls for his release by Tibetan exiles and activists. In September 2015, the Chinese government reported that Gendun Choekyi Nyima is “living a normal life and does not wish to be disturbed,” but he has not been seen in public in the 21 years since his disappearance.

The Chinese government has long sought to legitimize Gyaltsen Norbu as the real Panchen Lama. The current move to have him officiate the Kalachakra ritual is part of an ongoing effort to bolster his credentials and strengthen his position. Ben Blanchard at Reuters reports:

China has gradually exposed its Panchen Lama in public roles in the hope he will achieve the respect commanded by the Dalai Lama among Tibetans and globally, and in 2012 he made his first trip outside mainland China when he visited Hong Kong.

The London-based group Free Tibet said the ritual would be the biggest religious platform Beijing has given its Panchen Lama to date.

“The officially atheist Chinese government has long tried to impose its authority on Tibet by co-opting Tibetan Buddhism,” said Free Tibet director Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren.

“Its decision to have Gyaltsen Norbu preside over a ritual as important as the Kalachakra marks a stepping up in these efforts.” [Source]

The Tibetan Women Association, Student for a Free Tibet, Gu Chu Sum Movement and the National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT) today organized a ‘scarf offering ceremony’ near Tsuglakahang Temple, to a portrait of the Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima recognized by the Dalai Lama.

Lukar Jam Atsok, the President of Gu Chu Sum said the move to politicize an entirely religious event can be construed as a direct “insult and belittling” of the Tibetan people and its way of life. He said, “The matter concerning Gyaincain Norbu being the fake Panchen is not a personal issue; it is a full fledged assault by China on the tulku tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and an attempt to assert authority over the issue of reincarnation of tulkus in general.”

[…] National Director of the activist group SFT, Tenzin Tselha said that the scarf offering ceremony serves a dual purpose of asserting that Tibetan people have always considered the incarcerated Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the true Panchen and at the same time let China know that Tibetans will not accept the lies manufactured by the CCP. “CCP regime fails to understand the faith of the Tibetan people in Buddhism, and the incorruptible relationship between a disciple and a Lama. Let’s give a strong message to China that faith cannot be imposed upon or controlled by gun. Our aim with this action is to highlight the hypocrisy of the Chinese government and expose the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in its manipulation and oppression,” said Tselha. [Source]

The demolition at the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in Serthar (in Chinese, Seda) county began in the early morning hours, a resident monk told RFA’s Tibetan Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The work started at 8:00 a.m. on July 20, beginning with those structures that were not already recorded in the government’s record of permitted dwellings,” RFA’s source said.

“The work crews are all [Han] Chinese,” he said.

[…] The order now to reduce the number of Larung Gar’s residents to a maximum level of 5,000 is not a county plan “but comes from higher authorities,” with China’s president Xi Jinping taking a personal interest in the matter, sources told RFA in earlier reports.

“We don’t know how much has already been torn down, as we are not allowed to visit the site,” RFA’s source said.

Larung Gar usually bustles each summer with pilgrims who come from other parts of China and Tibet to visit, “but now there are restrictions on traveling here,” he said. [Source]

Yesterday’s #LarungGar demolitions were of homes outside the legal building limit & were expected. Controversial demolition likely from 25th

A Chinese official on Sunday defended the role of the government in the Tibetan Buddhism system of reincarnation, saying whatever the Dalai Lama says or does can’t change the central government’s right to confirm the new incarnation.

[…] Norbu Dondup said the government attaches great importance to the reincarnation system, which since the Qing Dynasty has been affirmed and regulated by the central government.

The current regulation on the reincarnation system is clearly outlined in a document issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs in 2007, he added.

“So, no matter what the Dalai Lama says or does, he can’t deny the central government’s right to confirm the new incarnation,” said the official. [Source]

]]>186823China Urged to Release Panchen Lama After 20 Yearshttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/05/china-urged-to-release-panchen-lama-after-20-years/
Mon, 18 May 2015 22:53:04 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=183646May 17 marked the 20-year anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the Tibetan boy who was detained by Chinese authorities days after the Dalai Lama named him as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama—the second highest-ranking lama (after the Dalai Lama) in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Beijing then selected Gyaincain Norbu, the son of two CCP members, as the 11th Panchen Lama. After briefly outlining the controversy surrounding the 11th Panchen Lama, the disappearance of the Dalai Lama’s candidate, and the lack of information about his current whereabouts over the past two decades, BBC reports on renewed calls for his release:

Wangdue Tsering, press spokesman for the Office of Tibet in London, told the BBC that events were taking place on Sunday across the world to mark the 20th anniversary of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima’s disappearance, including a candle-lit vigil outside the Chinese embassy in London.

[…] “We are appealing to the world community to help us find out where the Panchen Lama is,” Mr Tsering told the BBC’s Asia analyst Michael Bristow.

“It’s 20 years since he disappeared and we don’t know where he is, where his family is and how he is. We want the Chinese authorities to give some information.”

The Dalai Lama has in the past strongly criticised China for “brazen meddling in the system of reincarnation” – especially the reincarnation of the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas. [Source]

“While the Dalai Lama photos carry symbolic importance to the Western audience, this is not a very significant indicator for anyone in the Tibetan Autonomous Region,” said Robert Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Programme at Columbia University in New York. “We should be optimistic, but this will not necessarily add up to what people would like it to.”

“What matters to Beijing is how to cement its control,” Bequelin said. “If the religious policies don’t help Beijing’s objective to domesticate the region – avoiding popular protest and ethnic tensions – then the leadership will revise them.

“This just reflects that the new leadership is more pragmatic about these issues, but the fundamental policy has not changed. Ironically, the new policies also reflect confidence from the government that it has increased control of the monasteries.” [Source]

The new approach in Qinghai may have been advised as an ‘experiment’, and justified as an attempt or tactic to prevent further Tibetan self-immolations. There is a direct correlation between the self-immolations and an intensified campaign against the Dalai Lama in Tibet together with the aggressive expansion of legal measures tightening state control over Tibetan religion and culture. This has been particularly evident following the imposition of increasingly restrictive measures in the eastern Tibetan areas of Amdo and Kham, where most of the self-immolations have occurred. Virtually all the 120 Tibetans who have self-immolated since 2009 have called for the Dalai Lama to be allowed to return home.

[…] The Chinese authorities are known for practising alternate waves of concession and hardline policies, called fang-shou’, meaning ‘soft-hard’. This sometimes takes the form of backing off from stronger language after a propaganda offensive.

In an earlier precedent to what has been discussed in Qinghai, in July 2009 the Chinese authorities allowed Tibetans in Drango (Chinese: Luohuo) county in Kardze, eastern Tibet (Sichuan) to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday with a prayer ceremony and to display his images. Any attempt to publicly mark the Dalai Lama’s July 6 birthday is generally banned in Tibet in the past several years. According to several Tibetan sources, one ‘work team’ of a handful of officials who visited the area eve brought pictures of the Dalai Lama for local people. Some Tibetans described it as a “temporary tactic” as part of an attempt to prevent unrest to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 2009. (ICT report, Move to allow Dalai Lama pictures prompts speculation: no policy change evident). But this was an isolated incident in a climate of intense repression, and there was minimal or no debate evident. [Source]

Were China to pursue the course advocated by the Central Party School’s Jin Wei, of resuming talks with the Dalai Lama and perhaps allowing him to live in Hong Kong, these developments might represent plausible first steps. But as explained in an interview translated by ICT, Jin’s objective is to ensure the long-term sustainability of Chinese rule in Tibet by securing the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation within China. Should this be accomplished, she argues, Western interest “will gradually fade”, and Tibetans within China will be “calmed”, leaving “the overseas Tibetan independence forces” adrift and “disintegrating.” Accordingly, some see Jin’s proposals as a dangerous trap, not a welcome thaw as The Economist recently described them. From Woeser’s blog:

An independent Chinese intellectual sent me an e-mail. Worried and anxious, he said “There is obviously a back story to the two articles in Asia Weekly. The first speaks of the internal divisions among Tibetans and the Government-in-Exile’s inability to stabilize the situation. The article that follows has several keywords that I really don’t like: reincarnation, inviting His Holiness to visit Hong Kong, etc. And an invitation to His Holiness to visit Hong Kong is surely on His Holiness’s mind: he has many times evinced warm feelings when speaking about Xi Zhongxun and is reposing great hopes in Xi Jinping. If moved by rhetoric, His Holiness could gladly go. But think about the affair of the 10th Panchen Lama’s passing away in Shigatse. I think of the old adage, ‘Don’t walk into danger!’”

Indeed, don’t walk into danger! When there’s someone saying “We must strive to see that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is produced only within the country,” my hope is just for His Holiness to be in sound health; for His Holiness to be free of any malady! [Source]

It remains unclear in any case how influential Jin’s views really are. One official quoted by Global Times described a change in policy as “impossible”, while the State Administration for Religious Affairs has insisted that “our policy toward the Dalai clique is clear and consistent, and has not changed.”

In this way, one day when you will have the absolute power over every written material in our monastery, what guarantee do we have that you would not say that there are ‘mistakes’ in the Prajnaparamita scriptures, or that the commentary on Madhyamaka is not in accordance with ‘your accepted premise’, or that a new social commentary is ‘erroneous’, or that a new style of poetry is wrong or an outlook on culture is ‘not in tune’ with old way of thinking?

[…] Since the time of the Buddha, there has always been a space to analyse the nature of things based on one’s mental capacity and to test and critique truth about objects and phenomena. In the future too this space for debate must continue. Like the great scholars of the past who have handed down this tradition from one generation to the next, we must strive to continue and further improve upon this great tradition. It is simply wrong for a few people to have the power to decide whether someone’s writing can and cannot be published.

[…] The red wind from outside is so strong and its orders so strict that we have barely space to breathe in and breathe out. […]

[…] Unlike anonymous letters that create rumours, I have written this piece with integrity and openness. I have and will always take responsibility for my writing.

Written on June 4, 2013 in my quarters at Ngaba Kirti Monastery. [Source]

Sources in the region say that Norbu set himself ablaze near Kangtsa Gaden Choephelling Monastery and shouted slogans calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, release of the Panchen Lama and freedom for Tibet.

Around 10:30 pm local time, the crowds are reported to have shouted slogans calling for the return of the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to Tibet. As of receiving the report, the gathering of monks and local people are reported to be reciting long life prayers for the Dalai Lama.

The situation in the area is tense with paramilitary forces surrounding the area.

The Dolma Square, named after a golden statue of Jetsun Dolma, a Bodhisattva and female deity known for her compassion, has been a site of several protests by Rongwo monks and local Tibetans since March, when two Tibetans set themselves on fire in the town. The square sits at the entrance of the Rongwo monastery, which is a site of significance for Tibetans and particularly for the Yellow Hat sect, for whom the Dalai Lama is the most important figure.

During a visit to Rebkong in April, The Hindu found tight security outside Dolma Square, where a black SWAT van was permanently stationed. Monks at Rongwo Monastery told The Hindu in interviews that tensions had been high in the monastery after two self-immolation protests at Dolma Square in March, where a monk and a farmer, in separate incidents, set themselves on fire.

Rebkong is a quiet town, where small Tibetan shops displaying artwork and handicrafts line narrow, muddy streets that run outside the monastery’s walls. Further down the road from the monastery, monks and school-students walk amidst groups of paramilitary security forces.

In recent weeks, the town has emerged at the centre of spreading self-immolation protests, with Tibetan monks in India, citing their sources in Rongwo, recording at least eight protests since November 7, the day before the Communist Party of China began its leadership congress.

LinkTV interviewed Columbia University Tibet scholar Robert Barnett about the self-immolations and the Chinese government’s response:

Officials in the Rebkong area have warned people that they cannot go to the homes of those who self-immolated and express their condolences. They also said that if monks go to pray for self-immolators, monasteries will be closed down, and that the families of self-immolators will be punished.

As a part of the Aba prefectural government’s efforts to better protect more than 250 monasteries in the areas against fire risks, four monasteries: Dagcha, Tisannyi, Mewa, and Changlie, were chosen to participate in a trial program to create their own firefighting teams.

Young and strong candidates are chosen to take part in regular training sessions that teach them how to detect fire risks, fight fires and protect themselves. Courses held by the Aba prefectural fire brigade also cover laws and regulations pertaining to firecontrol.

In addition to their usual routine of studying scriptures and meditating, the monks engage in firefighting training sessions once a week. Large rooms outside temple prayer halls are used as fire control offices.

The newly-elected Tibetan prime minister-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, says he will use his tenure in office to continue pressing China for negotiations aimed at resolving the decades-long dispute over the status of Tibet.

Sangay assumes office Monday, ending months of transition within the exile government sparked by previously scheduled ministerial elections and by the Dalai Lama’s decision to step away from political affairs. Tens of thousands of exiled Tibetans from across the globe elected Sangay in April. The 76-year-old Dalai Lama says he will retain his role as Tibet’s spiritual leader.

China has routinely accused the Dalai Lama and his followers of advocating Tibetan secession, despite repeated assurances from the Nobel laureate that he is seeking dialogue with Beijing aimed at establishing Tibetan autonomy.

Sunday, the 42-year-old Sangay, speaking from exile headquarters in northern India, told Reuters television he will strive to communicate with Chinese civil society as well as the government, in order to “resolve differences peacefully, based on mutual interests.”

In a published commentary, Sangay vowed to restore freedom for Tibetans and for the return the Dalai Lama to his homeland.

“He” is China’s handpicked Panchen Lama, the second-most important religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism, and despite his formidable rank, his presence is not universally welcomed by the faithful in and around the white-wall Labrang Monastery that sprawls into a cavernous valley here.

The main problem is that this Panchen Lama, 21, is one of two young men with claims to the title. The one chosen by Communist Party officials in 1995, named Gyaltsen Norbu at birth, is often referred to by local residents as the “Chinese Panchen Lama.” The other is Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who would now be 22, a herder’s son who was anointed that same year by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.

Most Tibetans are still loyal to the memory of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, even if he has been missing since Chinese authorities swept him and his family into “protective custody” more than 16 years ago.

“We just hope he is still alive,” said Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan essayist and blogger who noted that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s visage, frozen as a 5-year-old, hangs in many homes and temples. “We are waiting for him.”

As Gyaltsen Norbu moves from adolescence to adulthood, Chinese authorities are facing a quandary over how to burnish his bona fides: his standing will continue to suffer if he remains apart from Tibetan monks and the faithful, but officials risk inflaming passions by foisting him on a community that remains deeply suspicious.

In recent years, the Communist Party has tried other means to raise his profile. They named him vice president of the state-run Buddhist association and appointed him to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body that meets annually in Beijing.

In recent weeks, as word has spread that he might be coming to study at the monastery, emotions have spiked, as have the numbers of police officers, both uniformed and in plain clothes, hoping to head off trouble in a place where ethnic Tibetans have been unafraid to express their enmity toward Chinese rule.

“Nobody wants him to come, and yet still he will come,” said one 26-year-old monk. “We feel powerless.”

The main problem is that this Panchen Lama, 21, is one of two young men with claims to the title. The one chosen by Communist Party officials in 1995, named Gyaltsen Norbu at birth, is often referred to by local residents as the “Chinese Panchen Lama.” The other is Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who would now be 22, a herder’s son who was anointed that same year by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.

Most Tibetans are still loyal to the memory of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, even if he has been missing since Chinese authorities swept him and his family into “protective custody” more than 16 years ago.

“We just hope he is still alive,” said Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan essayist and blogger who noted that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s visage, frozen as a 5-year-old, hangs in many homes and temples. “We are waiting for him.”

]]>123060China’s Panchen Lama Visits Earthquake Zone: State Mediahttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/05/chinas-panchen-lama-visits-earthquake-zone-state-media/
Fri, 14 May 2010 18:13:53 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=72556The man selected by Beijing to be the Panchen Lama has visited the Qinghai earthquake zone to lead prayer services for residents. From AFP:

The visit by Gyaincain Norbu, chosen by Beijing as the Panchen Lama after it rejected a boy selected by the exiled Dalai Lama, comes after China snubbed a request by the Tibetan spiritual leader to be allowed into the quake area.

The 6.9-magnitude quake struck April 14, killing more than 2,000 people and flattening thousands of homes in the ethnically Tibetan region of Yushu in northwestern China.

]]>72556China Says Missing Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima is Living in Tibethttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/03/china-says-missing-panchen-lama-gendun-choekyi-nyima-is-living-in-tibet/
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:52:56 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=52223Since the Dalai Lama selected him as the next Panchen Lama 15 years ago at the age of 5, Gendun Choekyi Nyima has not been seen or heard from in public or accounted for by the Chinese government. The new governor of Tibet recently revealed some knowledge of his whereabouts, without giving details. From the Times:

The son of a Tibetan herder, Gendun Choekyi Nyima was only 5 when he was selected by the exiled Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Police swooped on the boy’s village in a county to the north of Lhasa and, pro-Tibet exiles say, removed the child and his parents.

He has not been seen or heard from since. But Tibet’s new governor, Padma Choling, revealed yesterday that the young man, now 20, is still living in Tibet, where “his brothers and sisters are at university or are doing regular work”.

He gave no hint as to the family’s whereabouts but repeated the Communist Party’s mantra: “As far as I know, his family and he are now living a very good life in Tibet. He and his family are reluctant to be disturbed. They want to live an ordinary life.”

The information amounts to a revelation compared with the secrecy that has surrounded the life of Gendun for the 15 years since he vanished and was described by human rights groups as the youngest political prisoner in the world.

The man that Beijing appointed Panchen Lama gained a more public profile this week when he was appointed to the CPPCC and attended the two sessions meetings.

]]>52223China Elevates Its Chosen Tibetan Spiritual Leaderhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/03/china-elevates-its-chosen-tibetan-spiritual-leader/
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:30:16 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=52106Gyaltsen Norbu, the Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama, has been given a seat on the CPPCC, the New York Times reports:

Although membership in the advisory group, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is of nominal interest to ordinary Chinese, the Panchen Lama’s appointment on Sunday ratchets up the government’s efforts to elevate his stature among Tibetans. Because he was appointed by Communist Party authorities rather than by Buddhist leaders, many Tibetans reject his religious authority as the ranking leader after the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since 1959.

Born as Gyaltsen Norbu, he was anointed the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, after the Dalai Lama identified a different child as the latest incarnation of the Panchen Lama. A few weeks later, that boy and his family vanished. The government has said that they are in “protective custody,” but their whereabouts have been an enduring mystery for 15 years.

According to Xinhua, the official news agency, the appointed Panchen Lama, just shy of his 20th birthday, is the youngest person ever appointed to the consultative conference, which convenes later this week as part of the annual pageant that includes meetings of the National People’s Congress, the country’s main legislative forum.

]]>52106Panchen Lama Turns 20 – For 14 Years He Has Been a Hostage of the Chinese Governmenthttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/04/panchen-lama-turns-20-for-14-years-he-has-been-a-hostage-of-the-chinese-government/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/04/panchen-lama-turns-20-for-14-years-he-has-been-a-hostage-of-the-chinese-government/#commentsSat, 25 Apr 2009 17:47:22 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=37897AsiaNews.it reports that the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, recognized as such by the Dalai Lama in 1995, turns twenty today. He and his family were taken hostage by the Chinese government later in 1995, when he was six, making him “the youngest political prisoner in history.” The Chinese government declared that their chosen candidate, Qoigyijabu (Gyancain Norbu), was the true Panchen Lama.

After the death of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama has the task of recognizing the new reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, recognized the young Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the Panchen Lama on May 14, 1995. A few days later, the police kidnapped the six-year-old boy and his family, who have not been seen since in spite of repeated requests from the United Nations and international organizations to at least be allowed to meet with them. In November of 1995, China “selected” Gyaltsen Norbu as the “true” Panchen Lama, in order to establish tight control over religious practice in the region.

“The Panchem Lama and his family were abducted by the Chinese government on May 17, 1995,” denounces Tsering Phuntsok, minister for religious affairs of the Tibetan government in exile. “Their whereabouts till today are not known.” He turns 20 years old today, and the Tibetans in exile intend to celebrate the birthday “according to Buddhist tradition,” praying for his “safety” and wishing him “long life.” Tsering Phuntsok explains that his kidnapping is not only “a Tibetan question,” but “international.” “It is a grave violation of human rights and freedom of religion,” he continues, “and these importantly since the tender age of six years, he is unheard of – his freedom are denied and the basic freedom and rights due to any human person are denied to him.”

China, which has stepped up its campaign to isolate the Buddhist monk, has already urged Obama not to meet with him.

“We have made representations to the US urging the US to honor its commitments and not allow the Dalai to engage in separatist activities in the US,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said earlier Thursday… In Tokyo on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama accused China of “acting like a child” in cracking down on Tibetans and other minorities, saying it lacked the moral authority of a genuine superpower.

Every US president has met the Dalai Lama winner since George H.W. Bush in 1991 and analysts in Washington believe it is unlikely Obama would shun the spiritual leader, who enjoys a wide following in the United States.

Communist China and Taiwan are for the first time jointly hosting a Buddhist forum at this lakeside city on Saturday, as Beijing turns to Buddhism as a balm for global economic turmoil and internal unrest.

“Harmonious world”, the theme of the second World Buddhist Forum that begins in Wuxi, echoes the “harmonious society” slogans of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Gargantuan re-creations of Tibetan and South Asian prayer halls, built in a vast park housing a 1,000-year-old pagoda, show the resources China’s formally atheist state is prepared to invest to reclaim its Buddhist mantle.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/03/china-turns-to-buddhism-to-calm-tibet-taiwan-tensions/feed/436463The Quiet Heroes of Tibethttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/03/the-quiet-heroes-of-tibet/
Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:38:53 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/03/the-quiet-heroes-of-tibet/Howard French reposted some of the text of a New York Review of Books article from December 19, 2007:

Wang Lixiong, who is one of the very few Chinese intellectuals to have met the Dalai Lama, told me that Tibetans have no faith in the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, whom they refer to as “that little brat.” He thinks that the Chinese missed an opportunity in suppressing Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the Dalai Lama’s candidate for the seat of the Panchen Lama. Traditionally, Panchen Lamas have had a crucial part in choosing the Dalai Lama, and had the Chinese respected the choice of Nyima and educated him carefully, they would have had a good chance of legitimizing their choice of the next Dalai Lama. As things stand now, few Tibetans are likely to accept the decisions of China’s substitute.

Remarking on the missteps the Chinese have made in Tibet, Wang said that market reforms have weakened Beijing’s authority. Communications between central and provincial governments have broken down, leading to arbitrary and thoughtless decisions such as the expulsion of Woeser from Lhasa, which has led to her acquiring bolder views and a higher profile in Beijing. Communist Party officials correctly feel themselves most vulnerable in regions like Tibet and Xinjiang, where Han Chinese are a minority; the oppressive atmosphere of the Cultural Revolution still lingers in Tibet, where villagers are required to fly the Communist flag and display a picture of a laughing President Hu Jintao flanked by Tibetans in colorful ethnic costumes. Tibetans talking to foreigners invite the attention of the police. By contrast, small spaces for dissent have opened up almost imperceptibly in Beijing and the coastal cities, escaping the scrutiny of officials who are busy either pursuing private fortunes or grappling with corruption, social breakdown, and environmental disasters.

]]>18485China Says Tibetan Lama Too Young To Be MPhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/03/china-says-tibetan-lama-too-young-to-be-mp/
Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:44:39 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/03/china-says-tibetan-lama-too-young-to-be-mp/Gyaltsen Norbu, the Tibetan youth chosen by China to be the 11th Pachen Lama, or Tibet Buddhism’s second-highest ranking figure, will not become a member of this year’s parliament, as previously reported, because he is too young. China has been grooming the youth for higher political office, allowing him to meet with a top official last month. Reuters reports:

Sources had said Beijing’s choice, Gyaltsen Norbu, who turned 18 last month, could become a member of the elite Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, or parliament, as early as this month.

But parliamentary spokesman Jiang Enzhu said on Tuesday that the youth was not 18 when elections were held.

…”As far as I know, the Panchen Lama was not yet 18 when elections … were held. So he is not on the list of deputies this time,” Jiang said.

China’s state media have not mentioned elections, and Jiang did not elaborate on when they took place.

Norbu, however, is not recognized by Tibetans as the true reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama. Another boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was chosen by the exiled Dalai Lama and has not been seen in public since 1995, is believed to be the “youngest political prisoner” of the Chinese government by international human rights groups.